AlvaStitcher

Today I got 8 of the large main blocks put together and started sewing the wings on the aqua rectangles. Got about 35 sewn and trimmed. I still need to trim the large blocks.

I decided to eyeball the seam on the wings,rather the drawing a diagonal line on all the 1.5” blocks. I don’t usually do well eyeballing a seam but I guess these are small enough because most came out ok.

Everyone is getting their clues done and it will not be long before we start seeing the tops together. Then I tend to put things aside and not get the quilting done to finish up the quilt. 🙁

Belfrybat

Thank you! For some reason I had a terrible time with those corner blocks. I'm so glad you caught it before I sewed the sashing on.

Iceblossom

Wasn't that a grand catch by Cavmom? I find my errors tend to pop out at me as soon as I have a picture but some last until the end and are sewn and even quilted in. I also use pictures a lot for when I'm not sure whether a fabric really works or not.

Joe'smom, I think your deep reds will just mark noticeable circles around the stars, even if they don't perfectly relate with the previous red you used, they will work with each other and be just fine.

As for me, I haven't gotten much done the last couple of days but huddle miserably in bed with a heating pad. It started out as allergies and then progressed into post nasal drip and not being able to breathe. Not sure if I am going to sewing today or not, probably not. I do have all of my red for Clue 8 cut. I do have my neutrals out but not cut.

platyhiker

I want to start by thanking of all of you who share your thoughts and pictures as you work through Bonnie's mysteries. I haven't done one myself, but I feel like I've learned a lot each year as I watch them play out, especially in terms of what color combinations and shapes I find most appealing.

I've been thinking about the turquoise crosses the pieced sashing is making, and I definitely see why some people aren't wild about them. I wondered how it would look if the shape of the largest turquoise piece was changed, and got played with belfrybat's picture, and with Bonnie's drawing. (The pieces now have two points at the end instead of one, and construction would mean making a turquoise goose with a background sky and then sewing it to a turquoise rectangle (rather than doing two snow ball corners of a turquoise rectangle.) (I changed 2 crosses in the picture of belfrybat's work, and the uppermost four crosses in Bonnie's drawing, plus the parts of crosses along the very upper part.) Depending on how much I zoom in or out, the change is more or less noticeable. I like the chevron shape the change introduces. I then played with making the uppermost leftmost cross having four white geese around the sashing's setting cornerstone (3rd picture). I think I like the look of this one best of all, but I'm not sure I would feel like it's worth the extra work if I was the one doing the sewing. I find it fun to play with ideas!

Thank you again for sharing your work! It is so interesting to see how different fabric selections play out. I especially enjoy seeing the modifications that some people end up making. Happy sewing to all!

joe'smom

Iceblossom, I'm so sorry you are sidelined with cold-ish symptoms! I'm sure we can all relate to that particular misery!

I saw a photo on Quiltville last night of an Old Town in yellow, green and black (yellow for aqua, green for melon, black for red) that made a simple change to the sashing with a huge impact. The change was to replace half of the sashing color with white; it is the half of the sashing that attaches to the cornerstone. The change made the quilt look so orderly and uncrowded.While retaining the illusion of the second block, it made the block completely non-competitive with the main block. So now I am entertaining making the same change with my sashing when I get that far.

I returned to my clue 2 four-patches last night, and plan to integrate those into my sewing of clues 6 (red and neutral HSTs) and 8 (red and neutral geese), first with the sewing together of all the strip pairs, then matching and cutting them and getting all the 4-patches ready to sew. Once I am done with clues 6 and 8, my plan is to tackle clue 7 (little geese with QSTs) and then finally clue 5 (the block centers).

Belfrybat

Iceblossom - I hope you feel better soon. No fun being down with allergies/ cold.
Platyhiker -- thanks for playing with the pattern. I agree with option 3. It keeps the secondary pattern but softens the crosses for those who don't care for them.
I found a pic on FB that doesn't have the "crosses" but can't figure out what this person did. At first I thought the blocks were butted up against each other, but there is sashing. Anyone have any thoughts on what is different? https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...91023511046957

Iceblossom

First off, yay for another quilt like mine with yellow stars. I think instead of an aqua rectangle, sashing is divided into a simple neutral square and then a pointed yellow square.

I'm feeling good enough to go down and do some sewing. I really am excited to get to this part where everything starts going together so fast. Except for me playing with layout, that can go on forever so I usually set myself a timer. But that's getting ahead of me, still have sewing and cutting to do!

joe'smom

Belfrybat, that is the photo I mentioned. It replaces half of the colored sashing (the half close to the cornerstone) with a white square. Isn't the difference amazing?!

Belfrybat

It is beyond amazing. I'm going to cut a few neutral squares and audition them on the design wall. If I go that route, It will mean more sewing, but I think I will like it better. If I'd thought ahead I would have used a constant for those pointed blocks, but thinking ahead on a mystery quilt is not my forte.

Iceblossom

Am starting to feel much better today. Sort of that nice phase where you realize how good just being normal feels...

I was working away downstairs cutting my neutrals for my Clue 8 goose units. Thought I was doing great and then almost done I realized that although my 2 squares made 4 triangles, I was only half done because I needed sets of 4. Darn, I am really using up small pieces of fabric now and know at least one doesn't have any more left. But better to figure it out now instead of later.

So brewing a fresh cup of coffee, taking a break, and thinking of the rest of you out there working (or not) away!